


The real goal was the friends we made along the way.

by Martesh



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Multi, Warring States Period (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-19 03:07:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19348273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Martesh/pseuds/Martesh
Summary: Tobirama is not having the best of days. Caught and going into heat is not the best combination when he has to escape. Add in an enemy ninja as a cellmate to make thing even more enjoyable.Tobirama is pretty sure he could do it anyway.





	1. 1

The slavers unfortunately knew what they were doing when it came to restraints. It would have been fortunate if they were incompetent but that was rarely the case. The ambush had been sudden and unexpected. The fact that it had been unexcepted said a lot. It was not unknown that he was a sensor but it was nor widely spread knowledge either. 

The slavers had expected him. 

Him, specifically.

Senju Tobirama. 

That came with a list of precautions that was proving to be difficult to deal with. They had sealed his chakra as soon as possible as well as restraining every individual finger in a cuff that was adapted for shinobi. You could eat with simple tools in them but forming any kind of handseal was impossible. 

The rope that bound his forearms and legs where proving to be just as frustrating. However, it was the collar and muzzle that infuriated him. Tobirama knew what kind they were and those were only used when dealing with unwilling omegas or alphas. Betas did not have the fangs or the instinct to mark a mate.

Marking came with a feeling of loyalty and that could cause trouble.

Bad indicators all around. Not even the guard where inattentive, he would almost call say that they were on high alert. As if expecting another prisoner. 

Tobirama looked around. He was on the ground, secured with two lengths of thick chain to the stonewall behind him. They had carried him inside with a sack over his heads but he could tell only from the chill and damp air that they were in a cave. Probably formed naturally but help along later on with earth jutsus. The wall was in places to smooth to have formed via erosion. The flickering lights of the torches showed two doors close to each other and a tunnel heading of in a different direction. 

He could not tell from which he had come from. 

Frustrating. 

Two shinobi and a mercenary shared the room with him. The two shinobi hade their attention split between him and the far-right door. A possible entrance or another location of importance. The mercenary was hunched over a small table and grinding several herbs together with a mortar and pestle then stirring them into a bowl of streaming water. 

Possibly a sedative or another kind of similar drug. 

The hard and cold dirt floor was uncomfortable through the thin undershirt and leggings they had left him in. They had stripped him of his armour and weapons when he was lying limp on the forest floor, dizzy with drugs and genjustsu. There had been several more of them before, but they had split off and only a handful of them had carried him to this cave. Two had left since then. Tobirama could not even remember how long they had travelled. It had been quite a distance though. Fire country had a lot of mountains and forests but the reddish stone that dominated in this cave was more common on the outskirts of Sand rather than the land of Fire. 

Not good at all…

The mercenary finished grinding the last of the herbs and carefully tapped the stone mortar over the bowl. He stirred the water for a few minutes, mixing everything together before standing up straight, rolling his shoulders back and stretching. 

That was clearly a signing because the kunoichi rose from her slouch against the wall and walked towards Tobirama. Her footsteps where light and didn’t leave any scuffmarks on the floor. She had a calm air about her and the confidence she walked with marked her as competent. It was an assured gait brought by experience and not arrogance. 

She was clearly the one currently in charge and probably a dangerous opponent when he got free. 

“This is how things are going to play out” she said. “You are going to drink the bowl of water and then you are going to mate with the alpha in the other room. When you have been confirmed pregnant you are going to leave. Do you understand?” 

Suspicion confirmed then. They do want to breed you. Not unexpected but certainly not a desired outcome. Tobirama hissed behind the muzzle. 

They could try. 

The water probably held a relaxing concoction then. To hinder any struggle and ease the experience so he didn’t injure himself when he rejected the other. The alpha probably had been fed a tonic that heighten the hormone production to try an induce a rut. Impregnating an omega outside of heat was difficult bit the chances were higher if the alpha was in rut. Tobirama had theorized that the amount of sperm produced was higher as well as the act of knotting had the effect of triggering estrus in an omega. He had regretfully never been able to confirm or disprove anything. 

Hashirama never wanted to cooperate with his questions. Mito had only smiled in amusement and answered only a few of his questions.

Neither had provided samples. 

The Kunoichi only blinked calmly at his hissing and waved the shinobi and mercenary over, bowl held in steady hands.

He put up a fight but the shinobi was larger than him and the kunoichi was very skilled in pressure point. The ease in which’d they pinned him made chills run down his spine. They were practised at it and barely had to communicate to effectively stop his struggles. 

The kunoichi tighten her grip in his hair and unlatched part of the muzzle. Her other hand gripped his jaw and tilted his head back and dug her finger into the soft part between his jawbone and skull.

Tobirama kept his jaw clenched for a short while but she inly increased the pressure and he had to open his mouth.

The water went in and he was able to spit some of it out before she wrenched his jaw closed and pinched his nose shut. The hand that smoothed down the exposed part of his throat eventually forced him to swallow. 

Rinse, Repeat. 

He was breathing hard when they finally finished. It took three times forcing the water down before the bowl was empty and only a small part had ended up on the floor and dripping down his jaw. 

Disappointing all in all. He had hoped for more of a loss but they were practiced and worked smoothly together. It was a certainty that he was not the first prisoner the three had encountered and subdued. The chances for a successful escape decreased a bit more. That his captors would be a deciding factor was not something to wait for. He clearly had to create the opportunity himself, it was no use in waiting for a mistake from such a cohesive group as this. 

They left him alone of the floor. Retreating back to the small table in the centre and a quite conversation took place. The shinobi folded his hand into several quick seals and their voices muffled and turned incomprehensible.

Cautious, not likely to be lured into a trap. Direct assault and shock tactics more likely to be successful. 

Tobirama relaxed back onto the floor and started testing the ropes and chains for weaknesses. He had not found any obvious the first time but most ropes had some part that was slightly weaker.

It was when he had worked his way from his hands and down to his knees when he felt the building heat in his core. Tobirama froze, focus abruptly shifting from the binding to his body. 

He felt… hot.

His clothes suddenly felt restricting and too thick for the air. Tobirama had the absurd thought to try and crawl his way out of them to cool down. The smell of damp earth was stronger than before and the thick scent of alphas was strong in the room. At least two alphas, one smelled like warm sand and the other had tones of wood smoke clinging to it. 

They smelled unfairly good. 

Tobirama scented the air more and he could feel how his body turned a corner and went from escape to interested.

He was not in pre-heat. He could not be. 

None of the conditions had been fulfilled. He had not scented an alpha or been scented, there had been no trigger! Not even a possible one!

The water.

Could it be possible for a forcible trigger to have been discovered? Something that could bypass the psychological and chemical requirements? He clearly had no nest or feeling of security. 

The cramping in his midsection was clearly advocating in favour of: yes, heat is approaching. Rapidly.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating from bad to fucking awful.

Tobirama hated to fight when he was in heat. It had only happened once before and he still remember how disgusting it felt to produce slick and the feeling of overheating in his armour. The only positive side had been the dumbstruck look on anijas stupid face and the anxious faces of his opponents. They had retreated in fear, as they should. Tobirama had not been feeling merciful that day. 

He kicked at the floor, a sudden burst of anger sizing him, and growled at the other ninja in the room. They were to close and the crawling feeling of being vulnerable and observed was infuriating.

The kunoichi in charge turned around and tilted her heat to the side, watching him. 

Tobirama growled, chest vibrating from the force. He was angry and they should leave. Now!

“Seems like he’s coming along on well, let’s give him another hour before we introduce them to each other” she said and turned back to her companions. 

 

…....

 

The hour passed faster than Tobirama would have liked. The time seemed to run away from him while he only grew hotter in his bindings and started to sweat. 

The scent of the two alphas turned even more appealing during and Tobirama would deny it to the end of time but he had started to draw slower, deeper breaths so he could scent them easier.

The slick had also started to come. His entire crotch felt hot and throbbing with sensitivity. It also felt distant, as if where was a wall in his head between his body and mind. Thoughts truing slow and muddled with fever.

Tobirama felt sick, not at all the alert feeling of a true heat. Limbs like warm water, seeping onto the blessedly cool ground underneath him.

When they finally moved from the table and over to him he didn’t try to fight them. The act of moving was beyond him.

“Oh, he’s really gone now. Does he smell nice, Jun?”

“They all do, get the door instead of being a creep.”

“Stop chatting” a third voice said sharply. ”I’m removing the chain and rope next so be prepared to toss him in.” 

The tall shinobi pushed a door opened and took a grip on the metal collar on his neck and forced him face down on the ground. Metal clanked and his hand was free and the heavy weight tying his leg together disappeared. The ropes following soon after. 

There was a knew strong sent in this room. An alpha, young and healthy, with no hint of injury or sickness. The wood smoke scent was stronger in here. It was familiar. 

The alpha candidate they wanted him to mate with. 

The hands on his back and neck swiftly turned him on his back and fasten the restraints in front of him instead. Roughly jerking his arms around and winging another rope around his forearms to also tie them together.

Easier to move and brace when his hands are tied in front. More leverage, but less chance of rejection with the hindrance in movement.

They left the muzzle alone and heaved him up on unsteady feet. The world was a dizzy swirl of dimly lit stone walls and thick iron bars bolted into the stone. It created a medium sized cell with more than enough space for two people to sleep and move in. 

Mating would not be a problem. The man inside however, was.

Of all the people he could have ended up with, this surely could not have been any worse.

Uchiha Izuna was sitting inside the cell. 

Tobirama scowled at him and was forcible pushed inside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations happen. It's not great ones, but they do happen at least.

Tobirama stumbles inside but doesn’t fall over and lunges at the door. It slams in his face he rebounds and this time he does fall over. 

_Vulnerable!_ The thought blazed trough his muddled brain like a lightning strike in storm. Sudden, loud and attention grabbing. He flinched and gets to his feet with a speed he is surprised by from the lack of coordination from his limbs. It feels like moving through mud. Clinging and dragging his limbs down.

Izuna had not moved to his surprise. The Uchiha is still crouched in the far corner. A similar muzzle strapped to his face. They are both wearing matching charka suppression seals painted on the skin. 

He doesn’t have to worry about the sharingan for once in his life. A small comfort but he will take what he can at this stage. 

Escape is an overarching goal for the moment. Not being raped is foremost on his mind. Especially not by _Uchiha Izuna._

He is gasping behind his own muzzle, sweating profusely now. The false heat coursing through his veins and whispering softly that Izuna _is_ a possible mate. He is strong and does keep up when they fight. Their children would be strong. 

He growls at Izuna. world does not convey how very little he is interested. 

And Izuna… retreats. He shuffles even farther away and pressed his back into the corner making himself seem smaller. 

That cuts the low growling off and Tobirama feels how the growling turns into a questioning chirrup. He had not expected that. Izuna was usually a loud presence on the battlefield. Fire tearing towards him and bold sword strokes meeting Tobiramas. None of them are as flashy and over the top as their brothers but they are not hiding in their brothers’ shadows. They simply not as enthusiastically… extra…

Then he makes a mistake. He relaxes and rocks back on his heels, surprise clear on his face. He sees Izunas eyes dilate, the slight difference of the pupil’s colour expands and overtake the iris. Then he _lunges._

Clear across the cell, and rams into Tobirama, who has his weight all wrong and can’t compensate. They slam into the wall behind Tobirama and knocks his head into the hard stone. Stars dance before his eyes. They grapple but Tobirama had his hands bound together and a short length of rope between his feet while Izuna only have the restraining cuffs, and they are not even tied together. it is an unfair advantage.  
Tobirama loses. Embarrassingly quick. 

Izuna bullies him onto his stomach and pins him down on the floor. Tobirama is quickly starting to dislike the notion people seem to have acquired of pinning him down. He is not a fan.

He is expecting a fumbling hand to try and push down his trousers and underwear but it never comes. Instead Izuna take a few shuddering breaths at his back and the he hisses between his teeth.

“I am not a rapist and I refuse to become one.” The word is pushed out between gritted teeth. That a positive sign. Ignore his throbbing sex that is very happy with the situation. 

_Ignore it!_

Then Izuna eases of, and retreats. Again.

This is a very strange day and Tobirama is not sure if he’s happy with all this new data on Izunas personality or angry he’s in this situation at all.

_Both._

_Both is good._

Ignore the wet heat between his legs and crawl backwards and try not to growl furiously at the retreating alpha. This opened up to opportunities. Escaping opportunities. Not sexy ones. 

_Stop. Stop it, now._

They both back off, scents climbing higher. An undertone of arousal in both of their scents.

Embers and wood smoke. 

 

…

 

“Why did you back off?”

“What?!” Izuna twists around and glare fiercely at Tobirama who only raises an eyebrow. 

“Why did you back off?”

Izuna puffs up and growls at him baring his teeth behind the muzzle and flings out a hand at him. 

“Are you deaf?” He challenges voice rising. “Didn’t you hear me!?”

Tobirama scoffs. “I heard you, and I do appreciate that you did not force yourself on me but I am asking why you didn’t. It would have been easier to mate and then when our guard believe they have succeeded in their goal, to kill them and escape.”

There, that should be enough of an explanation. It would have been the most streamlined solution, the energy spent on sex should have been compensated for with endorphins and even the possibility of the guards delivering food. Sitting around stinking up the small room helped nobody. No matter how good it was. 

Izuna stared at him. Blood slowly creeping up his face, turning it an unbecoming tomato red. Suddenly he flailed upward with his hands and arms, sputtering incoherently.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how wrong that entire _thing_ was! First of all, nothing about this could even remotely be called mating! It’s rape plain and simple and I may be a Shinobi but I refuse to be part in any of they. Even if it’s you.”

Interesting. “So, you do have morals.”

“Why- you. I HAVE MORALS!!!” Shrieking and hand flailing accompanied the last sentence. Typical Uchiha dramatics. 

Tobirama hummed quietly. He could work with this. 

“Well, then. I propose a truce. Until we are out of this cave and passing through the lands bordering the Naras. That should be close enough to travel separately without fear of another ambush. “

If they got that far, both should have adequate time to retreat without running into hostile patrols of the others clan. And also sprint back onto clan lands if that were the case. Yes, this was good. He had a plan. Happiness bubbled up. Abnormally large amount and it made him feel dizzy with accomplishment. 

“What, no, are you insane.!?”

Tobirama eases out of his corner, inching slightly closer to Izuna. His wood smoke scent was beginning g to smell quite pleasantly. Just a little closer.

“I’m not going to ally with you! We’re enemies by the sage! The notion that we- wait... Senju..! Wh-what are you doing!?”

Izuna smelled so nice. Tobirama could not understand why, he usually was in high stress situations when he could smell any of the Uchiha scents. They were classified as potentially dangerous and required attention when found. This was... Tobirama inhaled not bothering with subtlety and closed the last metre with two shuffling steps. 

Izuna squeaked when Tobirama pressed himself up against him, nosing into the curve of his neck. 

He smelled so very nice.

“No I’m serious Senju, back off…”

Izuna brought his arms up and pushed Tobirama away from his chest, using his advantage of two free hand.

_Challenge accepted._

Tobirama hands were tied tightly together and he had a length of rope restring his legs. His movement was currently significantly less than Izuna but if he got a good grip with his knees and feet he should be able to flip them. 

Tobirama leaned backwards, rolling to a stop on his back, leg up in the air. He had nothing restricting his knees. Perfect. He lashed out, surprising Izuna who jerked back but didn’t manage the use of the wall behind him. The rope between his feet slipped behind Izuna head and down his back, trapping the Uchiha between his legs. Tobirama reached out with his bound hand and gripped Izuna shirt collar and wrenched them to the side. Izuna on his back and Tobirama sitting on his hips, pinning his chest down. 

Tobirama gripped the shirt tighter, prepared to bash Izuna head into the floor in he struggled but...

Instead of hostility…A pair of hand came to rest almost gently on his hips. Slowly moving up and down in soothing motions.  
Tobirama inhales again and he tilts forward, arms pressed up between them and his face pressing into Izuna neck. His legs relax and knees slides apart, so he ends up plastered on top of Izuna. 

He is feeling very lightheaded, and as if he wants to start grinding down on Izuna just to best so relief. His stomach rolled in discomfort, this is very unlike him.

“I don’t think I’m thinking clearly” he informs Izuna. “I don’t think I usually do this kind of thing. You smell really nice though, I just thought you should know.”

The hand wanders up his back and starts to rub slow circles over his back. Well away from his legs and ass. 

“Yes, you are very high right now. And you also smell very nice.”

“Strange?”

“Very.”

Tobirama hums and despise his best effort not to, he drifts gently away. 

 

....

 

The door had opened and someone had briefly visited before Tobirama head clears again. He is still slumped above Izuna, face smooched into his neck and chasing origin of his scent. The muzzle is pressed against his scent gland and he’s rubbing it back and forth, trying to create a stronger smell.

What…

He had been in the middle of trying to build a temporary truce when he had completely lost his mind and molested Izuna.

_He… Molested… Izuna…_

What!?

He forces his eyes open and sits up. The feeling of drying slick sticking to his underwear and trousers is terrible and Tobirama regrets everything. His head is clearer which is the only positive part of this. He takes a deep breath of clearer air. Holding and breathing out slowly through his nose. 

Focus.

Tobirama looks down at Izuna who is warily staring back up at him. 

“Feeling better?”

“yes.”

“Hn”

Tobirama scowl at him yet again. Why is he so aggravating? He scoots backward of Izunas legs, awkwardly using is hands to push himself farther back. 

The other man barely helps, only lifting his hips and legs to allow the rope to slide down and away. 

The silence afterward is extremely awkward. Tobirama is fine with that. Let the silence be awkward. Anything is better than nuzzling and grinding atop the person that is the second most dangerous fighter of an enemy clan. While smelling as if he wished Izuna would pound him through the floor. Not an ideal situation. Awkward silence: much preferable. 

Tobirama had to break it eventually, he had hoped Izuna would bring it up. Usually he never hesitated but today seemed to be the day for many new and unpleasant things.

_Fantastic._

“Do you agree to a truce? Cooperation for the sake of escape.”

Izuna looked up and scoffed in return.” How could I possibly trust you? You have no emotions and would kill me as soon as you could. You are untrustworthy.”

“Do not force you prejudice of the dead on me. We have done nothing but offer peace since Anija became clan head. “

“Prejudices!? You have killed more of my clan than any other enemy!” Izuna said, anger radiating like fog. 

“We do not seek conflict with the Uchiha any longer. Those that wish for war are not among the ones leading us anymore.” Tobirama do not know how to explain the growing feeling inside. He bares his teeth at Izuna who bares his in return and growls in warning. 

Breath in. Breath out. 

_Put your teeth away, you are not an animal and no son of mine will ever act as one._

Tobirama closes his moth and presses his lips together. He needs to convince Izuna of a temporary truce, the chance of escape without his cooperation will be a lot more difficult otherwise. 

“That is not a conversation productive for out escape. I am not proposing becoming allies. Only that we work together so both of our brothers are not left alone.”

Family is very strong in the Uchiha clan. Strong bonds between sibling and equally strong between spouses. Sometimes to their determent but in this case that is the angel he needs to have. Tobirama can’t think of any other argument that have the slightest possibility to convince Izuna.

“No.”

“Don’t be stupid. If we don’t work together our chance of escape is remarkably less certain.”

Izuna smiles and waves his unbound hands.” That may be the case for you, but not for me.”

He is right and it grates. Tobirama is definitely the one to gain the most form a truce. What kind of argument might sway him? It needs to be anchored in the feeling of family and then to project it so he sees Tobirama in the same light. But not in a way that makes it clear what he’s doing. 

Emotional but with a clinical or practical twist. The loss of a family member.

He looks up and makes a point of meeting Izunas eyes. 

“Neither of us will be of any use to our brothers if we are dead and gone. We will only be another silent room, in an already quiet house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a beta if anyone wants to offer. If any grammar mistake pop out feel free to tell me :)
> 
> please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Tobirama is still surprised that it worked. There had been a long moment when Izuna had only stared back, small changes in his face that Tobirama tracked but failed to make any sense of. 

People was difficult to deal with. The parameters for acceptable behaviour continually changed and something that worked one day was disastrous the next. Tobirama would know. Hashirama could laugh at him one day and burst into tears the next. 

Tobirama had only complimented his mokuton trees. That usually was a safe bet but lately not even that had worked. 

_Maybe there was an infestation of parasites?_

This time was a success. Izuna had nodded and even clasped his hand and shook it. That usually meant that a person agreed. Sometimes they stabbed you in the back anyway. Toka had said to watch their eyes for deceit but Tobirama was not great at that part. However, he was faster than most anyway and could doge when the knife came slashing down. He was not dead yet which spoke in his favour. 

They still needed a plan for when the broke out of the cell and the cave. 

First the restraints had to go. 

Tugging the knots loose around his forearms took a long time. They were tight and expertly done, barely yielding to Izunas frustrated tugging. They ended up removing the muzzles first instead and then chewing on the knots until they started to give away. 

Watching Uchiha Izuna angrily biting on the rope binding Tobiramas hands were an experience. His eyes were almost glittering in anger and the scowl was very impressing.   
“Spitting mad” was an expression that Tobirama thought was particularly fitting. There was a lot of saliva involved. 

They did eventually get all the rope off. Dignity sacrificed on the altar of getting out of the sage dammed cave. 

 

....

 

They were freed from the last of the physical restraints by the grace of Tobirama obsessive need for backup senbons, hidden in various places, and several tense minutes of wrestling the cuffs off. 

They still had no chakra. Explaining seals was extremely frustrating.

“No listen to what I’m saying, the ink won’t smudge, it’s laced with blood and chakra, although alcohol might help, the only other way to break a seal is to use _chakra_ to break the lines.”

“It’s ink!”

“Yes! chakra laced ink, possibly with a blood component which might make it even more difficult, the Uzumaki theorised that blood might contain a way to store information in ways we still can’t understand. The current theory is based on relative new research that indicated that blood remembers what the body have done, in the same way the stone tell what have previously happens to... the... land?” He trailed off at the odd look an Izuna face.

Izuna stared at Tobirama with a strange look in his eyes. It reminded him of Hashirama moments of understanding, rare as they were. 

He narrowed his eyes right back. ”What.”

“You are a nerd.” Izuna smirked.

Tobirama straightens up and takes a deep breath. Don’t hit him. He thought viciously. You can’t afford a conflict with him right now.

“Just because I choose not to lavish in ignorance does not mean I’m ..!”

“No, no! Is not a insult, you just reminded me of a cousin. She is exactly the same as soon as the word smithing is used. Or any word adjacent to smithing. Or any that has any connection to electricity. “

Smithing, that could mean anything but if used alongside electricity...

“She’s an engineer!? What’s her specialty? Y you description it sounds as if she’s a mechanical or electrical specialist.”Tobirama leans forward, truly excited for the first time. 

“I’m not telling you that!” Oh. He deflated. Of course he won’t tell him, Tobirama is a Senju and an enemy. Never volunteer information to an enemy for it may give them an advantage in a future conflict. He looked away at the iron door instead.

Awkward silence reigns supreme for a while. They still needed to escape. Without chakra and hormones spinning wildly out of control.

He can still smell the deeper current that hinted towards in Izunas scent, with a sharp tang or distress and plain stress. Tobirama was sure he had the same sour notes in his own scent along with the slight oddness that betrayed the false nature of their situation. When Tobiramas own chemical cocktail of raging hormones receded he found he didn’t like it. The drugs they consumed had indeed kickstarted both rut and heat. However it also gave it a strong sense of unnaturalness that was very unappealing. 

The scent they gave of had a distinct uncomfortable aspect to it, not very enticing with a relatively clear head. Keeping their hand off each other was not very difficult currently.

Their captors must have to dose both partner for any mating to happen, otherwise the strangeness would keep away any suitors. 

Heat or rut rarely trigger out of nothing. Heat was far harder to induce because it required a strong sense of security for the right combination of hormones to be released in the body. And stress inhibit the needed glands ability to produce the right combination for triggering a heat. If an omegas diet was without the right nutrients or not containing enough energy could also inhibit the triggering a heat. 

Alphas had it more difficult in some ways, they could be nudged into rut by an omega in heat even if they were in a stressful situation. They had the drive to protect stronger than any other dynamic which had is own downsides according to Tobirama. Never send an alpha to assassinate a child if it was avoidable . If only so they did not bring it home with them instead. Or challenge is sire.

Hashirama was an alpha and he could never see that if he truly wanted peace he might have to kill for it. Several of the elders of their own the clan to start with. But Hashirama was an alpha and he would never think of that until they openly challenged his right to lead the clan. They were under his protection until they very last moment. 

Tobirama would have poisoned them years ago if he could get away with it but if several of their elder kneel over dead the suspicion would land firmly on him. 

He had to resort to a ten year plan instead. It was going all right so far. One accident and two dying from “age”.

Three down, five more to go.

Tobirama could not remain lost or in captivity. Therefore they had to win. Cooperation was the key to success in this case. Neither he nor Izuna had chakra. Tobirama is fast even without it and would be to get close to one of the enemies waiting in the other room. Izuna is also quick in his feet, but he have additional strength in his side. The rut can only help, it gives additional strength and maybe even speed. Tobirama is not sure, as long as Izuna stays on task the souls be able to bring down two of their opponents with surprise on their side. It’s the third that will pose a problem. 

They need to plan it carefully and hope no backup had arrived. 

He turners back to Izuna. “I have a plan.”

.....

 

Izuna brakes down the door with a challenging roar. 

The woman and the mercenary flinch up and away from the table in the centre, both reflexively answering the implied challenge. Tobirama discards both and engages with the male shinobi instead. He has one senbon hidden up his sleeve. He has to make it count. He fakes a blow to the throat that the shinobi easily catches. Tobirama would have been surprised if it connected. It’s slow and sloppy, imitating a desperate attempt from an omega deep in the troughs of heat. They should want to recapture rather than kill. The shinobi grabbed his shoulder to try and pull him closer to his chest. The hand griping his shirt in an way that indicates takedown, not kill.

He smiles and twist, the senbon in buries itself in his eye. Tobirama wrenched it side way severing something important in the brain. 

He drops dead to the floor.

Tobirama follows and takes several kunai from the body. Izuna is engaged with the woman and is barely holding her off. Tobirama throws a kunai which she easily avoids. He launches another and a third. All miss. 

He try for a fourth but the mercenary recovers and attack him. 

The difference between mercenaries and shinobi are more than the ability to mould chakra. Civilian born shinobi can mould chakra but their bodies need time to acclimatise. Chakra is strange and hard to define. It leaves traces on a body. Increased speed, flexibility, strength durability. A regular person won’t survive being tossed through a tree. They will be dead and the tree will stay unbroken.

When the mercenary swings his sword Tobirama jumps over it. He kicks the mercenarys jaw sideways when he comes back down. It snaps like a dry twig. 

Two dead. 

No wait, three. Izuna lets the other alpha drop to the ground. One kunai in the spine and one in the throat. 

He turned away listening for any signs they had been discovered, that there were more people in the cave. 

It’s silent.

Luck must finally be on their side when the air remains still and additional enemies fails to appear. 

He looked back at Izuna.”I need to see in I can find a sealing kit, they should have one as I said before”.

“Hurry then, we can’t linger.” Izuna said.

Tobirama didn’t bother to argue. He crouched briefly by the mercenary but discarded him quickly. No scent on ink and no chakra. The woman has ink stains on her hand but no brush or bottle of ink. It must be somewhere else then. The seals painted on their skins were not made by a master of the art. They were imitation by someone would knows it works but not how. He could tell by the lines and how the characters are placed exactly same way on both him and Izuna. 

If Tobirama was in charge he would have used another kind of seal entirely, this one only locked it away from conscious manipulation. He would have drained the chakra instead and slowed the flow instead, Leaving a person exhausted and slow. Much easier to subdue. Ideal for prisoners.

He found after a bit of searching the ink and brush in a plain wooden box hidden among a stack of firewood. 

He open the ink bottled and swirled it. It was not too dry or selling of rotting blood.still usable then. He dipped the brush in and added to the existing seals, making them inert. 

The world faded back into reality. 

...

 

He takes a shaky breath and let the world sing out all its secrets in his head. 

Izuna was a bonfire of tenuously restrained chakra beside him. 

The whispering of dry grass, the beginning of what felt like an endless desert. Brimming with unseen life.

**Author's Note:**

> english is not my first language and if i manage without any grammar mistake i will be surprised. If anything sticks out, please tell me. :) '
> 
> please review!


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